I Can't Believe My Heart
by HAFanForever
Summary: Meg narrates her feelings on men and love after her heartbreak from her last relationship and her growing feelings of love for Hercules. Named after and includes the lyrics of Meg's deleted song "I Can't Believe My Heart".


**In the Disney film **_**Hercules**_**, Meg's ****love song was originally a ballad called "I Can't Believe My Heart", which was softer and more romantic in its words and melody. However, Meg's animator and the film's writers ultimately thought that the song was not a suitable match for Meg's personality, so it was scrapped and replaced with "I Won't Say I'm in Love".**

**Before it was replaced, "I Can't Believe My Heart" was recorded with Meg's voice actor Susan Egan singing it. The first time I heard the song, I enjoyed it, and hearing Egan's voice makes it sound so genuine, as if Meg is actually singing it herself. But I get why it was scrapped, because Meg sings as if she is feeling more open on giving love another chance, and that's not at all how she feels about it in the finished film. The film shows just how bitter, cynical, distrustful, and pessimistic Meg is towards men as a result of her past, and how reluctant she is to take another chance on love. So I think "I Can't Believe My Heart" doesn't fit her nearly as well as "I Won't Say I'm in Love" does.**

**But since I enjoy this deleted song, I decided to write my first **_**Hercules**_** fic being set through Meg's POV as she describes meeting and falling in love with Hercules with the song lyrics included, and so here it is!**

**Enjoy it, and please, reviews are always wanted and welcome! :D**

* * *

A long time ago, I was in love with my first true boyfriend. He was my first love. I had thought he would be my only love, my true love. He was the man for whom I would do anything, absolutely anything. And I was so in love with him that I believed that our love was deep, that our love was true. I believed he loved me just as much as I loved him, that he would do anything for me, and that he would _always_ be with me.

But man, was I wrong.

One day, my boyfriend was in a terrible accident that left him brutally injured and near death. Since my love for him was true, I couldn't bear to lose him. I couldn't live without him.

So I did what I thought was the most selfless sacrifice by selling my soul to Hades, the God of the Underworld, and offering servitude to him in exchange for the life of my true love. Hades accepted, and my boyfriend was revived.

However, soon afterwards, the unthinkable happened: my boyfriend left me for another woman, a woman he obviously thought was much prettier than me.

And that's when it suddenly hit me: he never truly loved me in the first place. All the time, he was only interested in me for superficial reasons, only for my looks.

The instant my boyfriend left, I realized what would happen to me. While he was literally given a new lease on life, _and_ a new woman after whom to chase, my bargain with Hades turned out to be all for nothing, and now I was his slave for eternity.

Because of this, my whole views on men (and even _all_ people) and love changed. I felt that all men were shallow, superficial, sleazy, egotistical, unintelligent scumbags who were just interested in women based on their appearance, just for how attractive they were on the outside, and nothing more. If women weren't physically attractive, then no man would ever give them the time of day.

Okay, yes, I consider myself beautiful. But I realized if my boyfriend could leave me for another woman as quickly and easily as he did, then he obviously only loved me for my appearance all the time. He never loved me for who I was beneath my exterior. And so when a new woman appeared in front of him, if he thought she was more attractive than me, then it was so easy for him to pick up and leave me.

So with that painful relationship behind me, I vowed to never fall in love again. I truly believed that all men could not be trusted, whether or not they showed interest in me.

And wouldn't you know? Even though I never showed interest in them over the following years, I frequently came across guys who couldn't take their eyes off me. They would make wolf whistles and catcalls at me. They even came up to me, trying to schmooze and woo me with "sweet" nicknames, make perverted advances on me, obviously thinking that I wouldn't be able to resist their so-called "charms".

But I would have none of it.

I saw through their "nice guy" fronts. I dismissed them all as being nothing more than vain, conceited, superficial jerks who were only interested in me for shallow reasons. This unequivocally proved my negative beliefs about men were true, so I kept my word that I wouldn't fall in love again. Not that it was hard to break, anyway…

...until I met _him_.

_I've always thought that men were slime  
And every guy I've met has proved me right  
Until tonight_

When I first met Hercules, or Wonder Boy, as I sarcastically called him, he attempted to help me with Nessus, whom Hades had tasked me with joining his army for his takeover of the cosmos. Needless to say, despite Nessus being so big and showing perverted interest in me, I was NOT happy that Hercules interfered and "saved" me because he got in the way of what I was trying to do. I was dismayed when he called me a "damsel in distress" and didn't listen to me at all when I told him I could handle the situation.

Okay, I admit, I was in a compromising situation by being in Nessus's grasp, AND he was a whole lot larger than me! But still, the last thing I wanted right then and there was for a MAN to help in this predicament!

Ultimately, Hercules fought with Nessus, and his attempts to defeat him did little more than amuse me.

Once we were properly introduced, Hercules started stuttering and spaced out between words, as if he was unable to say a complete, coherent sentence. I instantly recognized his lack of articulation as showing attraction to me, but it didn't faze me at all. It was crystal clear to me that he was interested in me just for my looks, just like all the other men who showed interest in me before him.

When I returned to Hades and told him about Hercules's interference in my job, I said that I could see through his innocent farm boy routine in a Peloponessian minute. I had no doubts that I was right about him. He just HAD to be another man whose interest in me was purely based on the superficial level. If I gave him a chance, I KNEW he would hurt me like my ex-boyfriend did. Like I knew all other men who noticed me would.

Little did I know, I was very wrong about Hercules...but it all turned out in the best way possible.

_Just when I thought I had it figured  
That life's a game you cannot win  
He comes in and changes all the rules  
What I've been taught, I learned the hard way  
__That life and love are never just  
__And if you trust, you're just one of the fools_

_And now I can't believe my heart  
__Is saying don't resist him  
__That I've been on my guard too long  
__I can't believe my heart  
__Surrendered when I kissed him  
__And told me all I thought I knew  
__As sad but true is wrong_

When Hades recruited me and his two imps Pain and Panic to kill Hercules so he wouldn't interfere in Hades's takeover, I had to lure him to a cave where the Hydra lived. Pain and Panic pretended to be two boys that were trapped under a boulder that blocked the entrance to the cave. Despite a brutal battle, Hercules managed to destroy the beast, and for the first time, I was really impressed with his strength, determination, and courage.

After that, Wonder Boy went on a winning streak, defeating every single monster Hades sent after him, and I continued to be impressed with him and his feats. However, when Hades tried to persuade me to get close to Hercules to find and exploit his weakness, I refused…until Hades made the offer to give me my freedom.

So to find his weakness, I invited Hercules to skip his training and booked events for the day, and instead go out with me. We had lunch together at a fancy restaurant by the bay, then went to see a play on Oedipus.

Needless to say, we had a wonderful time together, and much to my initial chagrin…I was falling in love with Hercules.

Yeah, you heard me. I fell in love with him. I was initially reluctant to come to terms with the fact that I was falling in love because I didn't want to risk the pain of heartbreak again.

But as I got to know Wonder Boy, I realized that he was so different from any person I had ever met. He was different in all the best ways. He had an optimistic view on life and people, a genuinely kind, sincere, compassionate, selfless, and innocent nature, and a big, caring heart.

I fell for everything about Hercules that I had rarely to never seen in people before. He had all of the positive traits that I didn't believe any human, much less a man, could ever possess. Because of all his good qualities, my heart was telling me not to resist Hercules, especially after I sensed that he loved me, too.

So I finally relented and accepted my feelings for him. And out of my love, I no longer cared about gaining my freedom from Hades. Hercules was far more important to me, and I was determined to protect him and refused to help Hades in hurting him anymore.

Unfortunately, Hades manipulated Hercules into giving up his strength for one whole day in exchange for my safety, giving him the perfect opportunity to succeed in his takeover. But when I saved Hercules from being crushed by a falling pillar and took the impact myself, my injuries caused him to regain his strength. I told him I did it because I love him…and I could tell from his lack of articulation (again) that he was speechless, but in the good way.

After I temporarily died from my injuries, Hercules bargained with Hades by exchanging his life for mine, as long as he retrieved my soul. Hercules succeeded in his goal, and I was revived. He told me he did what he did out of love for me.

In the end, our love prevailed. Hercules's love for me and mine for him gave me a new lease on life, healed my broken heart, and brought me more joy than I had ever felt before. We chose each other over what we originally wanted most in the world; for me, it was my freedom and solitude, and for Hercules, it was being a deity and living with his parents and the other gods on Mount Olympus.

I can't believe that my heart had been right about Hercules all this time. I just can't believe that my heart could be so wise about true love.

I have found true love at last, and I've never been happier.

_If life is worth the disappointment  
__I hadn't seen one reason yet  
__Until I met the boy who smiles for free  
__Upon this Earth, there's no one like him  
__He sees the girl I long to be  
__Making even me believe in me_

_And now I can't believe my heart  
__Has overcome my senses  
__To help me see that he's the prize  
__I can't believe my heart  
__Says tear down all your fences  
__That everything you want and more  
__Is right before your eyes_

_I can't believe my heart  
__Could be so…  
__Wise_


End file.
